Australia whitewashed

Very rarely does a team like Australia get whitewashed despite Australia losing their days of glory. There have been several teams like India, South Africa and England who have inflicted a defeat on Australia in all three formats of the game. But, one has to bring it to his notice that all those nations have not been able to whitewash Australia. Last year and in 2008, India was successful in defeating Australia 2-0 in the Border-Gavaskar trophy where Australia lost both the games which they played. If not for these, there have been many situations where Australia have lost one off T20 or an ODI to India.

But, England had a 3-1 win over Australia in Ashes 2010 which was not a whitewash. However, coming to yesterday's game between Australia and Sri Lanka at Pallekele, Sri Lanka had a run for their money against Australia when they had a run for their money. If not for Jayawardane's 86 runs at the top of the Sri Lankan innings, no other batsman from Sri Lanka ever stood up to the challenge. Jayawardane was there in the crease until the 7^th wicket from Sri Lanka fell. In between, Sangakkara gave Jayawardane some support when there was a 46 run partnership between the two.

Looking at the Aussie bowling, it may well be said that the pitch was tough for the batsmen and Mahela Jayawardane's 86 should definitely take the focus more than anybody else. Of course, anybody looking at the scorecard would be convinced seeing Ajantha Mendis' haul of 6/16 from his four overs that included an over maiden. But, with that sort of a pitch staying at the crease when 7 wickets fell from the other end deserves more than what Mendis took home. In my view, it should have been Mahela Jayawardane who should have walked away with the honor and not Ajanta Mendis.

In most of the case regarding T20 games, the man of the match is given to the wrong person and to a wrong department. Batsmen are given the award for the stylish hitting when the pitch favors them and like it happened yesterday, bowlers are applauded with the award when there was enough turn and bounce in the pitch. There were two bowlers from Australia as well who returned with 3 wicket hauls when Brett Lee and Hastings were the lucky guys. Another player who lonely handed the Sri Lankan bowling was Shane Watson who scored a quickfire 57 runs from 24 balls.

Sri Lanka crush Australia

Needless to be said, Australia have never taken the T20 format of cricket seriously whatsoever. This was evident first when they lost their super eights match to Pakistan in the inaugural edition of the world T20 followed by a loss to India in the semi finals. If that was not enough, Australia failed to make it to the super eights of the world T20 two years later in England when they lost their qualifier match to West Indies and Sri Lanka. However, in the third edition of the world T20, they reached the finals of the tournament without losing even a single game en route.

Still, their T20 record is not convincing when in most of the cases they are found putting a better performance in the other two formats of the game and failing miserably in T20 games. However, in yesterday's game against Sri Lanka they were once again never in the game when they allowed the hosts to put up 198 on the board which can hardly be chased down successfully. The Aussie bowlers could get only three batsmen out from Sri Lanka out of which Chandimal was out hit-wicket. One interesting aspect from Aussie bowling was that whoever bowled their quota of 4 overs returned with a wicket.

Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson and Shane Watson bowled their quota of 4 overs and returned with wickets of Mahela Jayawardane, Dinesh Chandimal and Kumara Sangakkara respectively. Looking at the batting chart of Australia, they had absolutely no answers to the Sri Lankan bowlers when no one could support David Warner who had a great going. Watson was dismissed early and that was followed by Shaun Marsh, David Hussey and Cameron White who got out scoring single digit scores. Huge hits were seen towards the end of the Aussie innings when Mitchell Johnson and Steve D'Keefe went in for the kill.

But, that was because the Sri Lankan bowlers let them loose when their win was confirmed. Likewise, similar to the Aussie bowling, bowlers who bowled their complete quota of 4 overs were the highest wicket takers in the Australian batting innings. Kulashekara and Perera returned with figures of 4-0-39-2 and 4-0-26-3 respectively. However, Lakmal and Herath also returned with a wicket but didn't bowl their quota completely and were not among the top bowlers from Sri Lanka. Had the Sri Lankan bowlers not let the tail-end batsmen loose, the Aussie score would not have crossed 150. In the end, Aussies say that "T20 cricket is not for us".

Australia to stay back

Well the winners of the world cup-India and the runners-up Sri Lanka left Bangladesh long back but, the loser in the quarter-finals will continue to stay in Bangladesh for their upcoming three match one day series starting this week. Sri Lanka last played in Bangladesh in the quarter-finals against England and India against Bangladesh in the very first encounter of the tournament. It is ironical to see the team that quit last in the tournament to have played in Bangladesh first and the team that quit second quit Bangladesh second. But, the team that lost in the quarter-finals will remain in Bangladesh.

In just a week after the world cup got over, Australia are scheduled to play Bangladesh for a three match one day series. There are no test matches coming up between the teams mentioned and neither a T20 game. One has to think of the reasons for having such a bilateral series so soon and involving Bangladesh and Australia. The reason can well be thought of to be that all (including the ICC) expected Australia to win the world cup this time as well and with Bangladesh hosting the trophy, a small bilateral series can be held mid-way for a week's time.

Australia's bilateral series against Bangladesh will end just a day after the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League would have begun. This means that only the players who have retired from playing international cricket for Australia will be seen making it big (may be) in this year's IPL. The list includes Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Shaun Marsh etc to mention a few. With that being a long way to go about, the talks can be restricted to Australia's tour of Bangladesh or Australia's continuance of the world cup. I just can't guess what would be going on in the minds of Aussies.

Aussies unexpectedly lost to India in the quarter-finals of the world cup and their zest for a thrash can well be understood. Though their days of glory have passed away, players like Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, Mike Hussey etc all continue to dominate with the bat with Mitchell Johnson ding it with the ball. And, with all anger against the sub-continent nations put together by the Aussies, one has to nothing but pity the Bangladeshis. Bangladesh are the only nation from the sub-continent not to have faced Australia in the world cup. Australia will definitely avenge their loss to India, Pakistan and Sri lanka against Bangladesh.

Best of the quarter-finals

Well with all the four quarter-finals of the world cup being over, I guess it is time to bid the best of the quarter-finals which included 8 teams playing four games (obviously). The first of the quarter-finals between West Indies and Pakistan was just a walk over game for Pakistan who thrashed the West Indies like never before. First by bowling out them for just above 100 and then chasing the same with close to 30 overs left. But, that feat can be enjoyed by no one other than the Pakistanis. So, that match stands canceled in picking the best.

Next on the list comes the match involving India and Australia which India unexpectedly won with 5 wickets still in hand. This goes down as the best of all knock-out games in this tournament so far with hardly anyone having their bet on the co-hosts though they are the favorites to win the crown this time. Though Australia have lost the services of Adam Gilchrist, Mathew Hayden, Damien Martyn, Andrew Symonds, Glenn McGrath and others, there are some like Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson, Brad Haddin, Brett Lee etc who are still fresh from their days of glory since the last decade.

Australia might have lost to Pakistan in their league stage encounter with the sub-continent nation but the quarter-finals of the world cup is totally a different game whatsoever. Coming to the next game between New Zealand and South Africa, that was just an elimination match where both teams don't deserve to be in the semi-finals and one of them has to make it there irrespective of whether anyone likes it or not. Both South Africa and New Zealand had just one win in their league stage and that too by a one man show and a crash by the opposition.

It was India who lost their equations against South Africa and if not for Ross Taylor, no other batsman from the Kiwi side put Pakistanis under pressure. Last but not the least we have the game between England and Sri Lanka which was (we guess) anticipated by England to be their last show in this world cup. Gone were the good work when they had a tie against India chasing 339 before losing to Bangladesh and Ireland. They were just a step better than the West Indies and nothing else. Teams gotto be lucky to have faced West Indies and England and likewise they did it in style when they didn't lose a wicket en-route to their successful chase.

Aussies still on top

One has to decide himself whether it is the bad timing of the games or is it the wrong schedule of the tournament or finally is it luck that is seeing Australia victorious throughout even in this world cup despite them not being at their very best. Yesterday, as expected Australia won their pool A match against Canada by 7 wickets. Of course, one might not have been shocked for Australia winning the game but, they are yet to get into games involving decent teams like Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, the game against Sri Lanka got washed out in Colombo.

The three teams that would have given Australia a tough time were Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand. With New Zealand being a team that Australia would be most fascinated facing, the remaining two teams are indeed a threat to Australia for reasons too many. First, they are the co-hosts of the world cup and second, they have a spin bowling squad facing whom is the last thing the Aussies would ever want. Though Muralitharan is not at his bowling best, Aussies no doubt fear him the most. Muralitharan has made the Aussie batsmen concentrate like never before and never again.

However, a hint of an Aussie collapse is evident from the earlier games they have played in this tournament. They no doubt crashed New Zealand by finishing the game in just 34 overs and thrashing being handed out to Zimbabwe, Kenya and Canada. Against Canada, Aussies take the blame for allowing the minnow nation to cross the 200 run mark and they had to bowl 45 overs. Well, that is not a big issue but, having the same Shane Watson and Brad Haddin do the job for Australia needs a reconsideration. Ricky Ponting like Graeme Smith has been a total failure.

The Canadian batsmen were able to maintain a run-rate of 5.0 an over and end the innings at over 4.62 runs an over. Well, with the wait game seeming to come to an end, Australia will be facing Pakistan in their next encounter scheduled after finishing with all the minnows, New Zealand and escaping partly against Sri Lanka when rain played a spoilsport (though an Aussie victory cannot be ruled out completely). Had the Aussies been teamed in group B, they might have had a tough time with the Proteas and India still with England and the West Indies being an easy prey. But, it is not the time for ifs and buts.

Dammit!

Well this was one such match that all cricket crazy fans and Aussie haters on earth would have been looking forward to. The match between Australia and Sri Lanka had to be washed off with only 32 overs of the game being able. I just cannot stop cursing myself and the rain gods for having spoiled such an enthusiasm. Australia have been beating Sri Lanka on the past five occasions with two each in the 2007 world cup and the 2003 world cup. They are the team to have been at the receiving end of Aussies in world cup taking into consideration their glory days after 1999.

India have had the taste of the Aussie ego thrice since 1999 with one in 1999 and two in the next edition in 2003 at South Africa while Pakistan have been quite lucky for not having been so. Pakistan beat Australia i the league match of the 1999 world cup by ten runs before losing to the same in the finals of the same miserably. And then in 2003, Pakistan might have missed out on meeting Australia had they not been grouped in the same pool. Pakistan was beaten badly by 82 runs in that world cup as well when the Aussies were just unstoppable.

Likewise, South Africa have had their taste four time with two each in the 1999 and 2007 editions with England having only one each in 2003 and 2007 world cups. And then, New Zealand have been losing to Australia since 2003 world cup with them being lucky in 1999 to have beaten them by 5 wickets. The match was going on at a decent pace as far as Sri Lankans were concerned with their run rate being well above four an over and Sangakkara and Samaraweera having a brilliant unbeaten 71 run partnership until rain intervened. On the other side, there was Muralitharan who could have shown his magic on home soil.

The same thing happened to the match between Sri Lanka and Australia in the 1996 world cup when Australia and West Indies decided not to tour the trouble torn country following which points had to be given to Sri Lanka for no efforts. Now, the points happened to be shared and Australia have escaped a would-be defeat at the same venue four world cups later. Nevermind, even Australia had an equal chance of winning with players like Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting, Mitchell Johnson etc. Now, the only choice left for Aussie haters is to wait and watch what happens to Australia in their pool match against Pakistan.

Beware of Australia

Well if anybody thinks otherwise about the declining Australian side without hard hitting Gilchrist and Symonds or the Glenn McGrath who was known for his line and length, one has to think again after looking at yesterday's match between Australia and New Zealand where Australia literally thrashed their Tasmanian rivals first by bowling them all out for 206 from 45 overs and then bundling up the innings in just 34 overs with over six runs an over. Looking at Mitchell Johnson being awarded the man of the match, the pitch can be though as a batsman's paradise restricting whom is indeed praiseworthy.

Australia might not be the team what they were four years ago but, there is still some fuel left in the Aussie tank with the likes of Brad Haddin and Shane Watson who is equally destructible as some Symonds and Mitchell Johnson who can be lest compared with some Damien Fleming or Brett Lee who are decent bowlers though no belonging to the club of Glenn McGrath. This was the third time in succession that Australia beat New Zealand in world cups starting from 2003 when they defended 212 and won by 96 runs from at one stage being at 84/7.

Thanks to some splendid fast bowling from Shane Bond who rattled Australia's top and middle order and Brett Lee & Michael Beaven who did the same to New Zealand and put up a solid 100+ run partnership respectively to see Australia go undefeated yet again. And then in 2007, when the world was fresh from Australia thrashing 0-3 loss in the then recently concluded Chappel-Hadlee series when may be the Aussies were experimenting just couple of weeks before the world cup 2007. However, things were totally different in the world cup when the margin of victory for the Aussies was a whooping 215 runs.

Yesterday as well, it was as though New Zealand was of no match for Australia and seemed like Australia were facing some Bangladesh or West Indies. Scorecard suggests that the only half century in the New Zealand innings came from the number 8 batsman bowler Nathan McCullum who played 76 balls which was the only reason why New Zealand raced past 200. Or else, may be the match would have got over in just 25 overs. No Aussie bowler bowled his full quota of 10 overs and Johnson was about to bowl and unfortunately the Kiwi batsmen were not interested in playing anymore.

Australia yet to face the heat

Well, despite the absence of key match winning players like Glenn McGrath and co in the bowling department and Gilchrist and co in the batting, the current Australian team is found winning matches and so was the case yesterday at Ahmedabad when Australia beat Zimbabwe by 91 runs. This can be considered as a formality when the result was as expected. Hardly anybody would have expected Zimbabwe to win the match against Australia or Australia to lose against Zimbabwe. However, as a matter of trivia, Australia have lost to Zimbabwe in the inaugural edition of the T20 world cup in 2007 at South Africa.

Australia are set to play New Zealand, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Canada before they face Pakistan against whom their real test is all set. Australia have greater chances of winning against Sri Lanka and a definite game against the remaining three though New Zealand can be hoped to give in a tough competition to the Aussies. There would be no doubt that Australia can make it to the quarter-finals even if they win against Kenya and Canada. The real test for Australia is obviously Pakistan and may be Sri Lanka and there can be a sense of wrong grouping of teams for pool matches.

Australia on the outlook hardly have the zest in them to face and to survive South Africans or the Indians despite previous world cups speaking otherwise. Of course, Australia have been able to beat England on 6 out of 7 occasions in the recently concluded Commonwealth Bank series. And, though Pakistan have been at the receiving end of Australia since the past one year or so when Australia thrashed them 3-0 in tests, 5-0 in one dayers and 1-0 in the one-off T20 game in 2010, this time Australia will be facing Pakistan on their more or less home soil with the conditions being almost similar to Pakistan in India.

Had the same match been held four years back when Australia were ripe with the batting-bowling combination which hardly failed, then may be Australia would have seen scoring a total of over 300 and bowling out the Zimbabwean batsmen for somewhere less than 100 or at the most 150. But, this time two things are found haunting Australia with one being their depleted team and the other being that they are playing in the sub-continent where spinners have their say and Aussies are very bad players of spin bowling. So, one has to wait for their games against Sri Lanka and Pakistan to see them defeated in world cups.

Poor Australia..all but one loss

One can imagine the fate of a team that wins all its games in the league stages of the tournament and loses the one important game that would have given it a champions tag if won. That was what happened to Australia yesterday when they lost their first match in the tournament as well as their last one. But, who is there to give more chance compared to the number of people who pity them? Australia are the team which deserved to win the trophy despite all odds when there was no team that even came close to beating Australia.

I remember South Africa winning all its five games in the 1996 world cup and losing to the West Indies in the quarter-finals by 19 runs. The same thing happened to South Africa in the last two editions of the world T20 in 2007 where they lost their first match to India and in 2009 against Pakistan in the semis to end their campaign. Like Australia, England too had not lost even a single match in this tournament and in 2007, Pakistan had not lost a single match until the finals against India. And last but not the least, Sri Lanka had not lost a game in 2009 until the finals.

But, those were fluke wins which came automatically but this time, Australia was a better team compared to England. Though England has beaten Pakistan in this world cup, they would not have done the same had they been in place of Australia in the second semi-finals. Australia not only defeated their opposition but literally thrashed them with Sri Lanka being bowled out for 87, West Indies for 105 and India for 135. England, though have won all their encounters in the super-eights, could not bowl out their opposition in all three games. They only managed to bowl out South Africa at Bridgetown for 129.

This is nothing but injustice done to Australia for which no one can he held responsible. Not even the Aussies can be held responsible for the same. After their loss to West Indies, England had to win against Ireland where chances of England winning were freak after they were bowled out for just 120 on the board. Had the game progressed, there was every chance for Ireland to upset their opposition. Had that been the case, England would not even make it to the super-eights let alone winning the trophy. But, I feel happy for England for winning their maiden world cup tournament.

Aussie tank misfires

They might have held their nerves tightly in that run chase of 197 against Pakistan when they were reeling at 105-5 at 3 overs prior to the winning shot. But, that match ended in those three hours itself when Australia made it to the finals of the world T20 tournament and Pakistan giving a grand exit. The past can never be the future in some cases like it happened yesterday when Australia surprisingly lost the finals against arch-rivals England by 6 wickets at Bridgeton. That was what a total of just 146 on the board can promise anyone let alone Australia.

The match was the finals barrier for the Aussies to cross which would have not only made them T20 champions but also would have stopped tongues from wagging towards them. Australia no matter what hey have they got to say in the other two formats of the game definitely lacked momentum in T20 game which one fine day forced Ricky Ponting to step down not only as a captain but also as a player. Yesterday was their rare chance to prove a point especially after their sweeping wins in the super eights where they had all three teams bowled out.

That was followed by a record run chase of 197 with the winning shot coming in the form of a six. In yesterday's game, the Aussies lost the plot in the beginning itself with the first three wickets falling when the scoreboard read 8 runs. That was followed by a series of wickets falling at regular intervals eventually ending their innings at a score of 146 on the board. With that initial blow, the batsmen coming in were confused when they had to think whether to go in for the kill or to stay at the crease and keep the scorecard ticking.

Still, all eyes would have been on the Aussies hoping that the pitch was a bowler's paradise and defending a total of 146 would not be tough. But, English batsmen had other plans when if not for Michael Lumb, no other batsmen had any sorts of trouble against seamers like Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait. England cruised to victory with as many as three overs to spare needless to be said en route to their first major title. England, until yesterday was the only cricketing nation which had no world titles against their name. Of course, one has to compromise with Bangladesh and Zimbabwe and other non-test playing nations.

Who is the best among the best?

Both England and Australia had once met in the finals of the Reliance world cup in 1987 held in the sub-continent. Now, after a span of 23 years both teams are once again scheduled to play each other in the finals of the T20 world cup here in hours to come. Both teams have reached the finals after a lot of ups and downs not only in this tournament but elsewhere as well. Australia,though have made their opposition tremble with fear for so long are not the champions they were once upon a time. For that, you might have to refer past T20 world cups.

And, coming to England they have never been the favorites with hardly any team having their bet on them. Looking at that, one should not consider that England have reached the finals by chance and not by talent. They are yet to legally lose a match in this world cup like Australia. Though they have a loss against West Indies, that was due to rain and had the match gone ahead as per plan, there was more chance that England would win that game. England, needless to be said beat strong teams like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa and New Zealand.

No team can win all their games by fluke. And, nothing special needs to be said regarding Australia who, like England (and one step ahead of them) have won all their games since the tournament began. They just thrashed every opposition that came their way if not for their semi-final game against Pakistan where they had a tough run for their money. It is winning such games that makes a team have a fan following and betters having their bet against them. In case Australia lose the finals by any chance, that would be nothing but total injustice to them.

Australia have knocked off England in the 1987 world cup and the ICC champions trophy 2009 while England have done that only once to Australia when they beat them in the semi-finals of the ICC champions trophy 2004. If Australia win this contest, they will become the first team to win all three major titles namely world cup, ICC champions trophy and T20 world cup. Likewise, in case England win, that will be their first major title after three losses in the finals of world cups and one loss in the ICC champions trophy 2004. Whatever, right now please Control your mind

Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat

Yesterday's game between Australia and Pakistan in the second semi-finals of the T20 world cup was something different than reading some freeta's blog when a total of 191 was not only chased down successfully by the Aussies but also ended with the winning runs being scored in the form of a six. Aussies nevertheless were at one stage reeling at 105/5 from 12.3 over with their top five batsmen heading back towards the dressing room. Still, Mike Hussey had different things in mind when the wickets tumbling at the other end never seemed to bother him and he continued to sail with ease.

In yesterday's match, Mike Hussey was a T20 version of Michael Beaven who is famous for Australia's wins in the semi-finals of the 1996 and 1999 world cups. Whatsoever, no one can ever blame the Pakistani batsmen or their bowlers for their loss. The Pakistani batsmen got everything right with all of their top order batsmen barring Afridi contributing with the bat. And, a total of 191 on the board speaks for itself. Despite the score ticking for Pakistan, Dirk Nannes got an over maiden which was a highlight of Aussie bowling. It was just impossible for part time bowler to stop the flow of runs.

After the top bowlers namely Johnson, Nannes and Tait finished their spells, Clarke had no option but to toss the ball to Watson, Smith and David Hussey who added fuel to the Pakistani fire. The Aussies needless to be said kept on losing wickets at regular intervals with the scoreboard at one stage reading 105/5 as mentioned with Australia needing 87 runs from 45 balls at a rate of 2.00 runs every ball on an average. Though it has not happened for Australia in the past, this time the Aussie batsmen have been flawless with their approach to the T20 game.

Aussies have been unbeaten in this world cup when no one expected them to do so. Aussies have dominated the other two formats of the game for nearly decades which need not be cited specially but they had a problem with T20 format which forced Ponting to call it a day. With the T20 being the shortest version of the game, one has to give hats-off to Mike Hussey for bringing back Australia into the game. There is little time left in T20 game unlike in ODIs and tests. Hussey's innings gives rise to a new saying "Fast and steady wins the race".

A series of surprises

If the ongoing world T20 tournament is given a close look at, one can sense that since the qualifying round, all groups have similar run-ups. The was a team in each of the four groups which had won both games in the pool stages namely India, Australia and New Zealand with England missing out. England have reached the semi-finals without a win in their league stages. However, England managed to win all the three matches in the super-eights stage when they were termed as the first team to head back home. Another team to surprise was India but this time it is for the wrong reasons.

India lost all three games in the super eights of the tournament unlike England and Australia who won all three games. England beat Pakistan, New Zealand and South Africa while Australia needless to be said beat India, Sri Lanka and West Indies. However, the remaining two teams that would make it to the semis was in a toss in both the groups. In one group, Pakistan lost both their games to England (obviously) and New Zealand while on the other hand, South Africa lost their game against England and had a last chance with the game against Pakistan yet to go.

Luckily, Pakistan could make that one count with New Zealand losing to England on the same day, hours after Pakistan registered a win over South Africa. So, Pakistan will be reaching the semis with just one win in the super-eights. On the other hand, Sri Lanka should consider themselves lucky to be in the semis with India failing to put up a better game plan in their must win match against Sri Lanka. At the same time, Sri Lanka were are found wasting a space in their playing XI by having Jayasuriya playing especially at number 6 when the batsman has been opening the innings for decades altogether.

This has happened for the first time in a T20 world cup that a team makes it to the semi-finals after winning just one game in the super-eights. Meanwhile, predicting the finalists could be partially with Australia and England being more of a probability. However, Pakistan are a more decent team compared to Sri Lanka and it would come in as no surprise in case Pakistan beat Australia. And on the other hand, Sri Lanka can tackle England with their spin bowling. But, it doesn't look like England are in for any compromise looking at the way they have handled teams in this tournament. Check out if this is ur best blog.

India breakdown into peices against Australia

Anyone who would have watched yesterday's match between India and Australia would have just declared Australia as the winners of the world T20 even before the semi-finals of the tournament is decided. India was the only opposition that had a chance to beat Australia with the West Indies and Sri Lanka being underdogs in the tournament. The moment Australia secured a win against India, all would have just crossed their fingers. India was one of the teams to have won both their league stage games. of course, even Australia have won both their league stage games against Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The only difference between the Indian fielders and the ball boys was that the fielders were inside the boundary while the ball boys were outside it. There were more instances where the ball boys collected the ball and handed it over to the fielders than the fielders themselves stopping. The ball full-tossed itself 13 times in the duration when Shane Watson and David Warner were at the crease. The Aussies had more number of sixes than the number of fours which happens rarely and the case stands even more rare with India being the opposition. Putting it simple, Indian bowlers were tired of trying too many things.

Despite the score being too high, Harbhajan Singh could manage one over maiden which is definitely a feather in his cap. Though Harbhajan Singh went wicketless, he was the pick of the bowlers when he gave away runs at a rate of 3.75 runs an over. It was evident that Australia are poor players of spin bowling when a part time spinner like Yuvraj Singh scalped two wickets though he gave away runs at a rate of 10.00 runs an over. But, the frontline bowlers like Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan were completely failures with the ball who were among the major run donors.

If that was what happened when the Aussies were batting, here comes Indian batting which saw only one face that was Rohith Sharma. One can go through the scorecard to see only Rohith Sharma scoring 79 runs which was the only score more than 20. There were the likes of Murali Vijay, Gambhir, Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh but could only walk back disappointed. Harbhajan Singh was found to score 13 runs which was more than any other batsman barring Rohith Sharma. One has to thank God for the Aussie bowlers finishing the match in 17.4 overs which saved the viewers 10 minutes.

What can you say about Australia?

Well Australia's performance against Bangladesh in yesterday's match of the world T20 was very much below par compared to what was expected out of them and against the opposition they were facing. Australia's score against Bangladesh at Bridgetown was 141 which was too less for reasons mentioned above. The total should have been a minimum of 180. But, one can hardly criticize the Aussies for having won their major battle against Pakistan earlier this week at Gros Islet by 34 runs. There should have been a thrashing by Australia and not just a formal reply. A total of 141 was something which even Bangladesh would have chased.

Bangladesh has a history of chasing down a total in excess of 160 against West Indies in the inaugural edition of the world T20 in 2007. Anyways, coming to the match, a thorough look at the scorecard suggests that the notable score from Australia happened to be from a number 7 batsman in Mike Hussey who scored 47. One can guess that the pitch favored the bowlers where batting was definitely a challenge and then, there were the likes of David Warner, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin and Michael Clarke who could have done much with the bat. But, all that they could do was not score above 16 runs.

The second highest score from the Australian innings was from Warner and Clarke who scored 16. Rest of the batsmen who made it to the crease got out scoring single digit scores. The Bangladesh captain - Shakib Al Hasan did not try more than 5 bowlers when he got all of them bowl their complete quota. As said above, the pitch never seemed to give any room to the batsmen, as a result of which the Bangladeshi innings saw two wickets fall with a score of 4 on the board with their openers getting out for a duck and the third batsman getting out for a score which was the next best thing to a duck.

But, though Bangladesh lost the game eventually, their team effort was better than that of Australia. There were four players who scored above ten and two of them above 20 unlike Australia where only Hussey scored above 20. Nannes had a ball when he had four wickets and was the most successful bowler of the match. But, with no prizes for bowlers in that game, the obvious choice for the man of the match award was none other than Mike Hussey who stood there at the crease with 6 batsmen leaving him single. With this, Australia for the 1^st time have won both matches in the pool stage.

Ponting backs a 60% fine payer

It is not something unusual for an Australian to say some nonsense to the opposition player be it at home or outside. And, this time as well the situation is no exception when the Australian current spearhead Mitchell Johnson was found to have an unhealthy chat with the man of the match Scott Styris in the first one day international at Auckland. However, this has seen no condemnation from the Australian captain Ricky Ponting. For this great deed of Johnson, he was fined 60% of the match fees. But, still, Ponting looks convinced and doesn't even speak a word regarding the issue.

This may have hardly been expected from anyone for, this is not the first time that an Australian player has been involved in a spat with a player from the opposition. Likewise, this has been the trademark of Aussie cricket now a days whatsoever. The deeds of the Australian players have reached such heights that no one cares to have a word about the issue. This is not restricted to only the Australian players on the field but also by the crowd. Perhaps! had this happened in Australia, may be New Zealand would have had to rethink about whether to continue with the tour or not.

One has to pity Scott Styris who had to cope up with a fine of 15% of his match fee for hardly any fault of his. Videos suggest that Scott Styris was just being at the receiving end of Johnson's frustration. From an Australian's point of view, Styris should not have hit the two boundaries off Johnson's last two deliveries prior to the incident and neither should have seen New Zealand through that match. It was because of Scott Styris that Australia's consecutive winning streak in one dayers stood broken. It was solely because of Styris that people's tongue's started doubting about Australia's run in cricket outside.

Whatever, this was not the way Ricky Ponting was found to react when India's Harbhajan Singh was accused of showering unwanted words on Andrew Symonds in the Sydney test a couple of years back. The moment Hayden saw Harbhajan Singh moving his lips, he made no further delay in coming and blowing up the issue. Forget about condemning the incident, instead Ricky Ponting comes out saying it was he was having fun with the crowd when Johnson had to be escorted by the two security guards to the dressing room off the field. C'mon..why should one seek special security for having fun with someone?

Brett Lee follows Shane Bond

May be it is the thing of the past when bowlers used to play all three two formats of the game of cricket and retire once for all from all the formats simultaneously. Some examples include India's Javagal Srinath, Australia's lanky pacer Glenn McGrath and others who quit both tests and one dayers simultaneously in one season to be more precise. This may not be the case with the present generation of bowlers with increasing load on bowlers who will have to do an extra bit of hard work in order to capture wickets even against low standard teams like West Indies & Bangladesh.

Thanks to the batsman friendly nature of wickets and batsmen friendly rules like the extended powerplay and a free hit when a no-ball is bowled. Added to the discussion would be abandoning the pitches which are termed dangerous for batsmen when the ball swings like a mad monkey. And bowling fast is no child's play for, this requires more work outs and increased fitness levels. This may not be true in case of batsmen and spin bowlers who do not take much burden when compared to fast bowlers. Added to that would be tournaments like the IPL which can guarantee money much more than what test cricket can.

However, Brett Lee's case is not as worse as that of New Zealand's Shane Bond who also quit from test cricket a couple of months back to concentrate on one dayers and the T20 formats of the game. Brett Lee has played 76 test matches for Australia compared to Shane Bond who had played just 18 test matches in his 8 year long international career. Brett Lee was able to pick up 310 wickets and also score 5 half centuries with a highest score of 64. Brett Lee's contribution to international cricket and for Australia though not enormous but may be considered satisfactory as far as a fast bowler is concerned.

Lee was awarded the man of the series in the Border-Gavaskar trophy 2007-08 which Australia won 2-1 which he can highlight to his children in case they intend in taking up playing cricket. Very rarely a bowler is awarded the man of the match let alone the man of the series. Brett Lee was able to strike a pace which was less than only Pakistan's Shoaib Akthar but could not draw the fan following and appreciation that Bond could. Like his pace, even his quality of pace bowling lies in between Shane Bond & Shoaib Akthar. The difference being in the reverse direction. Meaning in terms of pace it is Shoaib-Lee-Bond and in terms of quality it is Bond-Lee-Shoaib.

Why is Ponting not concerned about tests?

The Australian captain Ricky Ponting is always found to be in the news for some or the other reasons. This might be for suggesting something new that sometimes might favor the cricketing world and at most of the times definitely favors the Australian cricket. It was Ponting who has a share in the worry that was found to haunt the ICC which feared that the advent of the T20 cricket may be the end of the road as far as the one dayers are considered. The other side of the coin also suggests that the T20 format of the game of cricket is not Australia's cup of tea.

Relax! This might not be the reason for Ricky Ponting to throw out such a comment. However, now Ponting has come out saying that "It is the number of one day games being played that is responsible for reduced crowd strength in Australian stadiums." Australia were found playing 10 one day internationals against Pakistan and West Indies in the past couple of months or so. Added to these were 6 test matches, with three games each against Pakistan and West Indies respectively. These 6 test matches took as much as 30 days compared to the 10 days taken away by ODIs.

Moreover, be it anywhere in the world, test cricket has hardly been able to draw people to the stadiums and Ponting is not found commenting on the issue. Ricky Ponting wants the number of one dayers to be reduced from 10 to 5 in the Australian summer. So, does Ponting insists that one series has 3 one day internationals and the other series has just 2 games? If one has to go by Ponting's words, there should have been 3 ODIs played against Pakistan and 2 ODIs against West Indies this summer. And it is not a big issue if test cricket is not able to draw crowds to the stadiums according to Ponting.

Next interesting fact is that Australia have been playing 10 one day internationals every summer. Like, there were 10 ODIs involving Australia with New Zealand and South Africa last year. And prior to that, there was the Commonwealth Bank series that hosted 14 ODIs minimum. This was the case even prior to that as well. And no one was found taking to the issue then. But, now Ponting comes out saying that the number of ODIs be reduced. Ponting suggests that due to the end of the summer vacations after which kids will have to return back to school, the number of spectators have reduced.

So, if Ponting's words are to be followed, ODIs have to be held only during vacations and nowhere in Australia otherwise.

One has to really pity Gayle

It is just not understandable whether it is curse for Chris Gayle to captain a West Indies team that has nothing but scrap in it. The eleven players who faced Australia in yesterday's first T20 match against Australia had just four names that were making rounds in the West Indies team namely Gayle himself, Morton, Smith and Sammy compared to the rest of the players. The rest of the 7 players were there only to fill the vacant positions in the playing XI. This was more or less the squad that faced Bangladesh almost a year ago and gifted Bangladesh their first test series victory.

This was needless to be said that Bangladesh tasted their first ever test series victory against the West Indies and that too was fortunate enough for them to have it outside home. Anyways, coming to the 1st T20 game between West Indies and Australia, scoreboard suggests that Australia is just wasting its resources by going in for players like Shane Watson, Shaun Tait and others when lesser known players who are still going through a rotational basis in Australian domestic cricket. The first 40+ individual score from a West Indian batsman with a strike rate of 100+ happened to be Dinesh Ramdin whose batting position was 8^th.

The entire West Indian innings contained no sixes absolutely. Anyway, it might not be the number of sixes that matter in a game. And not even the presence of experienced lads who can turn around the game. But, the situation with the West Indies is nothing but pathetic. All that the West Indies could manage to do was not to lose all the 10 wickets that they had. They lost 8 wickets, which was equal to the number of wickets lost by the Australians as well. One has to wonder as to how come West Indies could make it to the semis of the T20 world cup in England last year?

West Indies beat India and England in the super eights of the world T20, after they beat Australia to enter the super eights. Since then, they have never been able to win even a single T20 game whatsoever. Of course, the presence of Shivnarine Chanderapaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan will make a lot of difference to the West Indies team. For, they can atleast add few more runs to the West Indies' total that is otherwise miser. A part time bowler in Chris Gayle had to use his experience to grab two Aussie wickets which were price worthy ones namely Shane Watson and David Hussey. In fact, it was Gayle who provided his team with a breakthrough by dismissing Watson.

With so much responsibility and always the need being for Gayle to fight a losing battle, one has to really pity Gayle.

What could Gayle alone do?

Well in the beginning of the 5^th one day match between West Indies and Australia, it was as though Chris Gayle was going to win the game single handed for his team only to be out a couple of balls later owing to a bad shot selection when Gayle hit the ball towards shot cover only to see the safe hands of Clarke after striking two sixes from the first two balls off Bollinger he faced. The only satisfaction for Gayle was that he could take home a strike rate of 200+. And, one cannot blame Gayle for such lackluster performance and a kid's take on the ball, when the entire West Indies team has totally forgotten what winning in cricket is all about.

Australia needed just half of their side to put up a score of 324 on the board and the entire West Indies team put together in addition to the extras could not see them cross the 200 run mark. And this is not the first time that this has been the fate of West Indies cricket. Australia were just wasting their energy by scoring runs and running between wickets and putting up a mammoth total of 324 on board when West Indies could not even think of scoring half the score had there been no extras, powerplays and free hits.

What Australia did was as good as displaying a diamond necklace in front of a beggar thinking he would buy it. There was no need to have someone like James Hopes, Shane Watson, Clarke and others to have taken the ground when lesser known ones like Daniel Christian who could have had a match practice. Or else, it would have been a good chance for the Australian captain Ricky Ponting to have had tail end batsmen like McKay, Bollinger etc who could have done a nightwatchman in one day cricket. It was Ponting who set up a record when he sent in Gillispie as a nightwatchman in a test against Bangladesh who in turn hit a double hundred.

Similarly, one could have seen McKay notching up a hundred and had Ponting himself bowled, he could have had a dream run when he could have had five West Indian batsmen out against his name. Just Kidding! But, one thing that could be seen and is worth highlighting would be the number of fours hit by the Australian batsmen from the top. The series is 1-3-0-3-1-3-10, that contains nothing but ones, threes and zeros which can rarely happen. But, the West Indies' run rate happened to be five all because they restricted themselves only to above 36 overs. This was all that was possible from the West Indies' side.